The Quest for the Master Bolt
by Mandi2341
Summary: My name is Annabeth Chase. I'm twelve years old. And I'm about to tell you a story that involves gods, monsters, satyrs, and a missing lightning bolt...as well as a kid who shouldn't even exist, but somehow became my best friend. Basically, The Lightning Thief in Annabeth's POV.
1. The One

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! Totally unoriginal idea right here, but I found it on my computer, re-read it, and thought, Why not? _The Lightning Thief_ is fun to rewrite in other people's POVs. So, I'll post this first chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

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Chapter 1: The One

I ran, ran as fast as my twelve-year-old legs would go. In the darkness, I saw some figures. There was a thunderstorm raging outside of our valley, though not even a single drop of rain fell into our valley. I heard a roar, then the crash of thunder and the screech of tires. I pushed my self harder. I heard another roar, and I saw three figures struggling up Half-Blood Hill: a woman, a boy about my age, and a familiar satyr they were dragging between them. I could hear shouting, and it seemed like the woman and the boy were arguing with each other. I kept on running and tripped in the dark. When I got myself together again, I continued until I was at a point where I could see clearly what was going on.

The boy was facing the tree, where the woman laid the unconscious satyr before trying to go back downhill. I remembered standing in this exact spot five years ago, back when I was seven years old. I remembered Luke's arms holding me back as I called out to Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, and a close friend—a friend that my mother, Athena, had guided me towards. I remembered struggling against Luke's grip, in vain; he was twice my age. I remembered crying and screaming. I remembered Thalia yelling, trying to defend herself against all of the monsters from Tartarus. She'd been bitten by poisonous fangs. She was bleeding all over. She took one more fatal blow, and collapsed. Then, like magic, she began to transform into a pine tree: the same tree that stood proudly at the crest of Half-Blood Hill.

The woman's shouts brought me back. "Run, Percy!" she yelled at the boy. "I can't go any farther. Run!" So the boy, Percy, must've been a new demigod, and the woman must've been his mortal mother. I caught a glimpse of the monster that was chasing them, and I gasped. It was the Minotaur—in tighty-whiteys. He charged at the woman, who tried to sidestep past him. I was amazed. How did a mortal know how to fight so well against a monster? She must've been able to see him through the Mist, the magical veil separating the mortal world from the mythological world. Unfortunately for the woman, the Minotaur seemed to anticipate what she was trying to do and grabbed her, squeezing her to death.

"MOM!" the boy screamed.

The woman looked at her son and said in a strangled voice, "Go!"

The Minotaur roared again and clenched his fist around the boy's mother, who exploded into a shower of gold.

"No!" the boy yelled. He stood frozen for a moment, then took off his red raincoat. "Hey!" he yelled at the monster, who was now hovering over the satyr next to Thalia's tree. "Hey, stupid! Ground Beef!"

I would've laughed if the situation weren't so serious. This kid had some nerve.

The Minotaur roared again as the boy waved his raincoat like a Spanish bullfighter. The monster charged at him. At the last second, the boy jumped, turned in the air, and landed on the monster's head. My eyes widened in amazement. This had to be a powerful demigod. Then I winced as the Minotaur ran smack into the pine tree. The monster was trying to shake the boy off. Then I heard a new sound: "Food!" the satyr moaned. The voice sounded just like Grover's. No wonder he looked so familiar. I recalled Grover saying that he'd found a powerful demigod in New York. The boy had to be the one Grover was talking about.

Before the monster could charge Grover, the boy snapped one of his horn's clean off. The Minotaur yelled in pain and threw the boy. Without his hold on the monster, the boy flew through the air and landed hard. My hands flew to my mouth. He sat up holding his head. I needed to get into that fight, to help that kid, to show that I could hold my own against a monster, but it turned out that he didn't need my help. When the monster charged him again, the boy ran him through with the horn he'd pulled off. The Minotaur disintegrated and was gone.

The boy stood there trembling for a moment, then moved toward Grover. As he staggered down into the valley, he broke down into heartbroken sobs. He continually called out for his mother, but was choked off by more bawling.

I finally unfroze from my spot and sprinted toward the Big House. I opened the door. Argus was there, staring at me sternly with his one hundred blue eyes. "Argus, I know it's past curfew, but I just have to tell Chiron something," I said. His many, many blue eyes kept staring at me. He said nothing. "I swear I'll go back to bed afterward. But it's important," I panted.

Argus nodded, so I ran up the stairs to Chiron's room. I pounded on the door and called him name loudly. When Chiron opened the door. He looked down at me. He was in his wheelchair. "Annabeth," he said firmly, "why are you out of bed?"

"Because," I said. "There was a fight outside between a demigod and—"

"The Minotaur," Chiron finished for me. "Yes. In fact I happen to know this particular demigod." He sighed.

"You mean the one that you left to teach?" I asked. When Grover came over Christmas break to tell us about the demigod he'd found, Chiron left to teach at the school the demigod was attending.

"Precisely," Chiron answered. Then he went down the stairs with me right behind him. We went onto the porch and found the boy sitting with his back against the house, Grover beside him. The demigod held his Minotaur horn in his hand. He stared up into the light on the ceiling. He had a dazed look in his eyes, and tears streamed down his cheeks. His eyes caught my attention. They were bright green. His jet-black hair was plastered to his face by the rain. He looked familiar, although I'd never met him before.

But the way he'd killed the Minotaur, and how Grover and Chiron were so concerned with him being a powerful demigod…how the weather had been weird since the winter solstice…as if the gods were fighting. I'd heard the satyrs talking about something being stolen. There were always thunderstorms, and hurricanes. Zeus and Poseidon were angry at each other. I'd been asking for a quest for years, and I had a strong feeling that I'd get one this year. Maybe this boy was the answer to my prayers. "He's the one. He must be," I told Chiron.

I waited for him to agree with me, but Chiron just said, "Silence, Annabeth. He's still conscious. Bring him inside." Ironically, as soon as this was said, the boy's eyes fluttered and rolled back. So much for being "still conscious."

* * *

After he was lying down in bed, Chiron came into the room with a bowl of ambrosia. I looked at him. "Chiron, his name's Percy, right?" I asked.

"Why, yes it is. Percy Jackson, in fact," he replied.

"Percy Jackson," I repeated. The boy, Percy, shifted on his sleep, but didn't wake up. Chiron handed me the bowl of ambrosia and a bronze spoon.

"Just keep feeding him small spoons of ambrosia, child," Chiron told me. I nodded, but something was seriously bothering me.

"Chiron," I said, "Do you think he has to do with what happened at the winter solstice?"

"What happened at the winter solstice does not concern him, or you, child," Chiron answered.

"What about the winter solstice?" Grover walked into the room. He looked like he'd had a rough night, which of course, he had.

"Does Percy know anything about it? Or the summer solstice deadline?" I asked Grover.

"I think he overheard me talking to Chiron about it," Grover confessed. He glanced at the sleeping demigod. "Oh man," he sighed. "I hope he'll be okay." He sniffled.

A question crossed my mind. "Grover…was that his mother you two were with last night?"

"Yes…how'd you know that?" he asked slowly.

I told him how I'd watched the fight, and how I'd seen the woman disappear in a golden explosion.

Grover whimpered. "You mean…the Minotaur got her?"

I nodded guiltily. Grover looked ready to burst into tears. And I understood why. This was the second time he'd failed a mission, although I thought it would be a little better this time since Percy was safe inside the borders of camp. "Wait," I said, a smile crossing my face. "If Percy knows anything about the summer solstice deadline, then maybe we can get a quest to figure it out, and—"

Chiron held up his hand. "Annabeth. Enough."

"But something was stolen. Something important to the gods, right?"

"Annabeth." Chiron looked deadly serious. "I said you shouldn't be concerned about that. And you and Percy are too young for a quest. If at any point Percy wakes up, please do not burden him with these questions of yours. The poor boy needs to rest. Do you understand?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but I decided that would've been useless. I sighed. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Chiron turned to Grover. "Come and tell me what happened, young satyr." They left the room, and I was alone with Sleeping Beauty.

He woke up a couple of times, buy he'd look confused and fall back asleep. He slept with his mouth slightly open, which made it easy to spoon-feed him the ambrosia. But he drooled a lot, too. I felt awkward spoon-feeding a kid my age. One time, some ambrosia spilled onto his chin, and I couldn't help smirking as I scraped it off with the spoon.

But the entire time I was with him, I couldn't help thinking about the summer solstice deadline, and the item that was stolen from the gods. Grover had said that he'd overheard them talking about it; maybe he knew something. Only one problem: Chiron had told me not to ask him. But Chiron didn't have to know.

So the next time Percy woke up, I immediately asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"

He frowned, his eyes half-open. "What…?" he asked weakly, his voice barely audible.

I quickly glanced at the door, then at the window. If Chiron caught me after he told me not to ask, I'd be in trouble. But I just had to know. Athena always gifted her children with curiosity. So I continued. "What's going on? What was stolen?" We've only got a few weeks!"

"I'm sorry, I don't…" his voice trailed off.

There was a knock at the door at the door. My heart skipped a beat. I filled the spoon with ambrosia and stuffed it in the boy's mouth. He made a weak sound of protest, but his eyes closed again. I got up and answered the door. It was Chiron and Argus. "Has Percy woken up yet, child?" Chiron asked.

I was honest. "He woke up a couple of times, but fell asleep again," I told him.

Chiron asked, "You didn't mention the summer solstice to him, did you, child?"

This I wasn't so honest about, but luckily I'm a pretty good liar. "No," I answered. "I didn't have the time to; he only woke up long enough for me to put ambrosia into his mouth."

Chiron didn't look very satisfied, but he nodded. "Argus has come to watch over Percy. You may resume your normal activities."

I bowed to him. Then I headed off to Cabin Six.

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**If you don't like it, I'll take it down. If you do, I'll keep it up. Tell me what you think about it!**

**~Mandi2341**


	2. Big Three Material

**Author's Note: Whoa, you guys liked this! Yay! So here's chapter 2! Hope you like it as much!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I'd come up with the genius idea of creating a 12-year-old demigod named after another demigod...**

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Chapter 2: Big Three Material

As I headed back toward the Athena cabin, I couldn't shake that boy Percy's eye color from my head. They looked so familiar, but I just couldn't figure out why.

Malcolm's voice shook me out of my thoughts. "Hey, Annabeth," he called. "Where have you been?"

"There's a new demigod," I told him. "I was taking care of him in the Big House."

"You just ran off in the middle of the night. You practically walked into a Minotaur fight! I know you have more common sense than that. Be more careful next time, would you?"

I couldn't help smirking. I was the head of the cabin, but Malcolm was older than me by one year. Sometimes he was a little overprotective of me, his little sister. "Sorry, Malcolm," I replied.

My sister Lily came and spoke up. "What's he like?" she asked. "You talk to him at all?"

I thought about how I'd pelted the boy with questions, his confused and dazed look. Part of me wanted to tell my siblings, but another part told me not to. I shook my head in a lie. "Nah," I said. "He's still unconscious."

"What's he look like?" Lily continued.

I remembered the boy, sitting on the porch, staring up into the light. I remembered his ebony hair, and the tears in his eyes...and his _eyes_. Those green eyes, frightened and upset. That boy, Percy Jackson, looked so familiar, but I just couldn't think of who he looked like.

"What does he look like, Annabeth?" Lily repeated.

I snapped back to reality. "Oh, he has dark hair and green eyes," I told her.

"Is he cute?" Lily asked with a sly smile.

"I don't know," I said skeptically. "Why?"

"Geez, it was just a question," Lily pouted.

"Who do you think is his parent?" My half-sister, Renee, asked.

I bit my lip and frowned. "I'm not sure," I said finally. "But...he's powerful. Very powerful." I pictured Percy, slipping in and out of consciousness, still mumbling in his sleep, still drooling. How could he be so powerful? He looked so helpless sitting there on the porch, crying out for his mother. But the way he'd killed the Minotaur-it was unbelievable. "But...maybe he can get me quest," I suggested. "I mean, about the thing that was stolen from the gods. Maybe-"

"Annabeth." Malcolm cut me off. He stared at me, as if trying to bring me back to earth. "You're not going to get a quest. Ever since Luke got hurt, Chiron hasn't allowed one quest."

"But he told me I could get a quest when someone special came to camp!" I protested. "Maybe this new camper is that someone special."

"Annabeth, you think every new camper that walks through our borders is 'someone special,' " Renee said, making air quotes with her fingers. "You're just desperate for a quest. But it's dangerous out there. Luke could have died on his quest, Annabeth. You know the dragon that clawed his face was poisonous. What if something like that happened to you?"

I turned away from them. The last thing I wanted to remember was Luke's face when he returned from his quest. A terrible red gash had run from his eye to his chin. He'd had this furious look, and the first thing he'd said to me when he'd returned: "I hate Hermes." After that, he'd refused to talk to anyone for days, which turned into weeks, which turned into months. He scowled a lot, and stayed pretty secluded from the rest of the campers. He was better now, but still...he just wasn't the Luke I'd met when I was seven years old. There were times where I'd hoped that he'd return to normal, but truthfully, I wasn't sure if he'd ever be the same again.

I took a deep breath and looked over at Malcolm. "Luke didn't die, though," I told him firmly. "His father protected him. And Athena would do the same for me if I ever went on a quest."

With that, I walked off to distract myself by practicing with my knife.

* * *

That night at dinner, I sat with my siblings at our table. There were a total of thirteen campers sitting together, all looking alike with our gray eyes and blonde hair. Lily decided to start conversation.

"What are we going to do about Capture the Flag?" she asked, scanning the faces of every on of us. Her eyes stopped on me.

Everyone always expected me to be the one to come up with the plans. Of course, I was a great strategist, but that was thanks to my mother. She was the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, after all. "Actually...I was thinking that we could make an alliance with the two biggest cabins: Hermes and Apollo," I told my siblings.

"Hermes," one of my sisters mused. "That wouldn't have anything to do with fact that Luke is in that cabin, would it?"

I felt myself blushing. The entire camp assumed that I had a crush on Luke. That wasn't necessarily true. We'd been through a lot together the past five years. I look up to him. But then again, he wasn't bad-looking, either...

_Whoa_, I thought. I shook my head. "Actually, since Luke's a good fighter, I wanted him on my team. Does that bother any of you?" I asked.

They all shook their heads.

"I didn't think so."

"Well, then, why only two cabins?" Lily asked.

"Because the Ares cabin will be looking for the strength of numbers while we will be looking for the best fighters. With the Apollo archers on our team and Luke in the front, there's no way we can lose."

Malcolm nodded. "That's pretty good, Annabeth," he said. "But it's still incomplete. We need somebody to distract the Ares campers at the boundary. That's the whole reason we lost last weekend. No one was at the creek to distract Clarisse, so she just barged in, took our flag, and made her way back to her own side, no problem."

I hadn't thought about that. I may be a good strategist, but it doesn't hurt to have the rest of the cabin by my side. I sighed. "You're right. The only question is, who's going to be the distraction?"

No one at our table volunteered, and I didn't blame them. Clarisse had this wicked spear that could electrocute the teeth out of your mouth if you weren't careful.

"Fine," I said. "We'll just wait and see what happens this week and decide on Friday. Besides," I added, "We'll have a new camper in the Hermes cabin." I started thinking about the boy.

* * *

Dinner was over. We headed toward the commons area to have our campfire. We talked as we walked. "About that new camper," Malcolm said. "You said he was powerful. How powerful is 'powerful'?" he asked.

Images flashed in my head. The Minotaur, the boy jumping into the air, pulling off the beast's horn. He _had_ to be the one I was waiting for. A child of the eldest gods. He was powerful, more powerful than any demigod I'd ever seen, other than Thalia. "He's very powerful, you guys," I told my cabin mates. "Maybe even Big Three material."

Clarisse, daughter of Ares, had been walking in front of me, but turned around and faced me. "Who's Big Three material?"

"Mind your own business, Clarisse!" I yelled.

"Whatever, Princess Curls," she said, which irritated me even further. Everyone in my cabin shared our mother's gray eyes, and we were all blonde, but Clarisse made it a point to make fun of my curly hair. "I know you're talking about that new kid in the Big House. If he really was Big Three material, I doubt he'd still be in there."

"You're just jealous, Clarisse, because he killed the Minotaur in half the amount of time _you_ would've," Lily said, narrowing her eyes.

"And who asked you, shrimp?" she sneered at Lily.

"You just wait until Friday, Clarisse!" she shouted. "We have something you don't: brains."

Clarisse growled, but she stalked off with her sisters.

"I can't wait to beat her in Capture the Flag," Lily muttered under her breath. "So she can finally shut up and stop bragging."

"I know," Renee said. "She has a big head and bigger mouth."

I shook my head in disgust. Clarisse was good at threats, but she never followed through, which made her one of the most annoying half-bloods at camp. "Well, we just have to show her that Athena can't be messed with," I said confidently. "We will win on Friday night." And I had a feeling that the boy in the Big House just might help with that.

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**There you go! Chapter 2, done. Oh, and I forgot this. The character Lily isn't mine. She's my friend PixieKindOfCrazy's wonderful creation, based pretty heavily on her. Pixie's been so kind as to let me use her for this story. Thank you, Pixie! Love ya lots! Here's a virtual cookie! (::)**

**Wow, you people are awesome with reviews! Thanks so much!**

**~Mandi2341**


	3. The One? Yeah, Right

**Author's note: Yay, more Annabeth stuff! I want to get in as much as I can, before school starts. (Ugh. School.)**

**I liked this chapter. But the ultimate goal of this fic is to reach the end of the book, because that's kind of the reason I started writing it. I wanted to write the end in Annabeth's POV, but I thought it would've been stupid to write _only_ the end, and you guys are enjoying the beginning a lot, and I'm enjoying it, too.**

**Anyway, enjoy! (I've used that word a lot, haven't I?)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. No one on this website does. (Unless Rick Riordan has an account that i don't know about...)**

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Chapter 3: The One? Yeah, right.

The next morning, after breakfast, I told Malcolm that I'd see him later in the day. Then I headed down to the Big House to see if Percy was feeling better. _He should be awake by now, _I though as I walked across the commons area. _I can't wait to have a real conversation with him. It'd be much better with him conscious, anyway._

When I reached the Big House porch, I found Chiron playing pinochle with Mr. D. The _D_ was short for Dionysus, as in the god of wine. He was sent down here as a punishment for chasing an off-limits wood nymph, and now he made it a point of making the lives of the demigods miserable here. I leaned against the porch rail and watched their game. Mr. D hardly looked up at me and said, "Oh well if it isn't Annie Bell."

"It's Annabeth, sir," I corrected. He always made it a point of getting my name wrong, since I'd arrived at camp. It was so annoying. But I was careful to stay polite. He was a god, after all. I turned to Chiron. "Is Percy still in bed?" I asked.

Chiron looked up from his hand. "Actually," he began, "we moved him to a chair on the front porch. Grover is there with him now, as a matter of fact."

I nodded. I kept thinking about the boy's green eyes. I remember seeing those same green eyes somewhere else, but I just couldn't place where I'd seen them. I hated not knowing things. Another trait from my mother, Athena.

I watched the pinochle game for a few more minutes. Chiron won, so they started over. "Would you like to join, Annabeth?" Chiron asked me.

I shook my head. "I'm okay," I said. I knew how to play, and I wasn't too bad, either. But with everything going on in my head, I wouldn't be able to concentrate. I wanted to ask about the summer solstice deadline, but I decided against it. That might've involved telling Chiron that I'd directly disobeyed his orders not to talk about it with Percy while he was still in bed. There must be some way to get a quest, and this was the perfect opportunity. Maybe Percy knew something, and I could work with him, unless he was an Ares kid or a Poseidon kid. But he probably wasn't either one. So we could get a quest and return the item that was stolen.

All of this was going through my mind when Grover and Percy came over. Percy had the Minotaur's horn in his hand. He was looking in amazement at the valley. He looked much better than he did when I'd found him on the porch. When he saw me, he frowned slightly, like he recognized me. I stared back at him. Grover was in his Camp Half-Blood shirt, jeans, and Converse hi-tops. I guess he didn't want to overwhelm the poor kid on his first day of camp by showing his goat legs. Grover murmured something into Percy's ear. Percy nodded and glanced over at me again. Then Grover pointed to Chiron.

Percy's eyes widened. "Mr. Brunner!" he cried in surprise.

I was a little confused at first. Then I realized that it must've the name Chiron used at Percy's school.

Chiron turned to him. I couldn't see his facial expression, but he sounded pleased. "Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."

He motioned for Percy to sit between him and Mr. D.

Mr. D gave an exasperated sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it," he said. "Welcome to camp Half-Blood. There. Now don't expect me to be happy to see you."

Percy frowned. "Uh, thanks," he said, though he scooted his chair a little closer to Chiron. Or was a just a little farther from the camp director?

Chiron turned to me. "Annabeth?" he said.

I stepped toward the table. "Annabeth, this is Percy. Percy—Annabeth. This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy." Chiron looked at me. "Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him Cabin Eleven for now."

I could've guessed that he'd be going in the Hermes cabin, but I said, "Sure, Chiron."

I looked down at Percy. He looked like he was about my age, twelve, maybe twelve and a half. He was shorter than I was by a couple of inches, and his dark, shaggy hair was a mess, probably from sleeping so long. His green eyes reflected the morning light, so it was around the same color as one of those old-fashioned Coca-Cola bottles, that perfect light green color. I immediately began to go through the list of the Olympians and which of them could possibly be his parent. I assumed it would be one of the male gods, since his mother was a mortal. Which didn't rule out the Big Three. So I might be right. He had to be powerful. I looked down at the Minotaur horn in his hand. Then I looked at his face. He'd pulled this off of the Minotaur with his bare hands.

Percy was sizing me up. I'd been through this with enough of the new campers. I bet he expected me to praise him for defeating the Minotaur. Honestly, I wanted to, but I had a reputation to uphold. So I told him the first thing that came to my mind. "You drool when you sleep." Then I turned and ran to Cabin Eleven, blushing and thinking to myself, _That was the_ stupidest _thing I've ever said in my life._ _Way to blow a chance for conversation, Annabeth. _But, hey, it was true.

When I got to the Hermes cabin, the door was open. Kids were having pillow fights, throwing sleeping bags, snatching items from each other—a typical morning in the Hermes cabin. I didn't mind it until something sailed over my head. If I hadn't ducked it would've nailed me in the face. "Hey!" I yelled inside. "That almost hit me!"

"My bad, Annabeth," Travis Stoll called. "It was yours, anyway."

"Mine?" I was completely confused. Then I looked at the projectile. It was a book with pictures of the Parthenon, a statue of Athena, and a temple of Zeus. It was my architecture book. I'd been searching for it for days. "You stole my book?" I screamed at Travis.

"No, you left it," Luke replied. He stepped out of the cabin. I'd known Luke since I was seven years old, but my heart always raced a little when I saw him.

"Oh, right," I said, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I swear my face was starting to burn. "Um, thanks, Luke."

"No problem. So what's up?" he asked.

I told him about the new demigod, Percy Jackson, and how he'd be staying in Cabin Eleven for now. Who better to ask than the head counselor?

Luke nodded. "Okay. But I'm sorry we don't have a sleeping bag for him. There are so many campers in here..." he trailed off.

I understood. Luckily for Luke and me, we were claimed once we got to camp. For a lot of the campers, though, that wasn't the case. They've been living in the same cabin for years, never knowing whom their mothers or fathers were. It was depressing.

"Well..." I started, walking toward my book (which was sprawled in the dirt now), "I'll just be sitting here, reading my book." I picked up the book and sat on the steps of the cabin, hoping that Luke didn't see me blushing.

I opened up to a picture of the Parthenon. The building was almost in ruins over in Greece, but it was still standing. In fact, it had lasted thousands of years. That was my dream, my ultimate goal in life: to build a monument to the gods so great, it would last a thousand years, or more.

Anyway, I was so engrossed in my book that I hardly noticed when Chiron came over with Percy. Chiron was in full-centaur form, so apparently he'd explained about the gods to Percy. I'll admit, it was a little confusing when I'd first found out that a goddess was my mother. But after five years at Camp Half-Blood, I'd grown very used to the fact.

When Percy walked up to me, he stared at my book. He squinted, like he couldn't read the title. He was realizing the truth about his dyslexia: that Ancient Greek comes naturally to all half-bloods. I looked him over one more time, trying to think of who his parent could be. It was one of the male gods, with green eyes, and dark hair. I thought about this for a while when Chiron called my name.

"Annabeth," he said.

I looked up.

"I have masters' archery class at noon," he told me. "Would you take Percy from here?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

Chiron turned to Percy. "Cabin Eleven," he said, pointing to the open doorway. "Make yourself at home."

The campers inside all bowed when they saw the centaur. I saw Travis punch his younger brother, Connor, inconspicuously. Connor glared at him. Typical Hermes kids.

"Well, then, good luck, Percy," Chiron told the new camper. "I'll see you at dinner." With that, he took off toward the archery range.

Percy stood in the doorway, staring at the kids. They stared back at him.

"Well?" I urged him. "Go on." I wasn't going to stay in that doorway forever.

He took a step, but tripped. The campers smirked. I rolled my eyes. Was I sure this kid was the one I was waiting for? After he pulled himself together, I said, "Percy Jackson, meet Cabin Eleven."

Chris Rodriguez spoke up from the back of the cabin, "Regular or undetermined?"

"Undetermined," I replied, ignoring the groans that followed. I mean, I understood that the Hermes cabin was always full to bursting because of all the undetermined campers, but they couldn't have made the kid feel a little more welcome than this?

Luke came forward and quieted the campers. "Now, now, campers," he said. "That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy," he told the new boy. "You can have that spot on the floor, right over there." He pointed to the spot he'd shown me earlier.

"This is Luke," I said. There it was again, those butterflies that always happened to appear when Luke was around.

I glanced at Percy, who was looking at me funny. I must've been blushing, because my face felt hot. I covered it up with a hard expression, the way I usually did. "He's your counselor for now," I told Percy.

Percy looked confused. "For now?"

Luke smiled sympathetically. "You're undetermined," he explained. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin Eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers." I noticed how he called Hermes his _patron_ instead of his _father_.

Percy glanced at the small corner where'd he be sleeping. "How long will I be here?" he asked.

Luke shrugged. "Good question," he said. "Until you're determined."

"How long will that take?"

Everyone laughed. I was seriously starting to question why I thought this boy could possibly be the one I wanted. I couldn't take this anymore. I had to save him from further embarrassment. "Come on, I'll show you the volleyball court." I turned to leave.

Percy stayed right where he was. "I've already seen it."

I took his wrist. "Come _on._" I pulled him outside with the whole cabin laughing behind us. I was trying to figure out who his parent could be, but now I realized that this was going to be a lot more difficult than I thought.

* * *

**So, did you like it? Did you dislike it? Tell me about it! They've conveniently put the review box at the bottom of the screen for you!**

**Thanks a lot!**

**~Mandi2341**


	4. Skepticism and Explanations

**Author's Note: Whooo next chapter! Cool. This was actually my favorite part of the beginning of the book…like, you know, the part before they actually go on the quest. I was so upset that this wasn't in the movie. Well…I guess it _kind of _was, but…it didn't feel the same, coming from Grover…Oh, well.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not as big of a troll as Rick Riordan, am I? (Sorry, Mr. Riordan. I'm just a little annoyed with you…and your cliffhangers…I apologize for my randomness. I'm excited for Demigod Diaries and it comes out in weird ways.) So, where was I? Oh yeah. I don't own PJO.**

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Chapter 4: Skepticism and Explanations

"Jackson, you have to do better than that," I told him when we were out of earshot.

He frowned at me. "What?" he asked.

_Was he for real?_ How could he possibly be the one I was looking for? How was he going to get me a quest if he couldn't even cross a threshold without losing his balance? I rolled my eyes and muttered to myself, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

"What's your problem?" Percy asked, heating up. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy—"

"Don't talk like that!" I cut him off. I couldn't believe what he was saying. He didn't realize the privilege he'd been given, the opportunity to test his powers. I'd been waiting for five years to get out there in the real world, to see if I could hold my own against a monster. And he was brushing it off like it was no big deal. "You know how many kids out there wish they'd had your chance?" I asked him.

He stared at me with those green eyes like I was insane. "To get killed?" he asked.

"To fight the Minotaur!" I corrected him. "What do you think we train for?"

He shook his head. "Look," he said. "If the thing I fought really was _the _Minotaur, the same one in the stories…" He trailed off, looking unsettled.

"Yes." I wanted him to continue.

"Then there's only one."

"Yes."

"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the Labyrinth. So…" He trailed off again, glancing at me like he still thought I was crazy, but was wondering about his own sanity as well.

I sighed. _Here we go again,_ I thought. I always had to have this conversation with the new kids, about gods and monsters. I thought Chiron would've shown Percy the introductory video, but I suppose not, since he wasn't making the connection. "Monsters don't die, Percy," I told him. "They can be killed, but they don't die."

It was only after I said that when I realized how unclear that sounded.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Oh, thanks," he said sarcastically. "That clears it up."

I specified. "They don't have souls like you and me. I'd noticed, when I was seven, that the same monsters would come after me no matter how many times I killed them. "You can dispel them for a while, maybe even a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they reform."

Percy hesitated. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"

I remembered Percy mumbling about a particular monster while he was unconscious in the Big House. He kept muttering things like, _Leave me alone, Mrs. Dodds…I didn't know you were a Fury…why can't you be a _normal_ math teacher? _"The Fur…" I stopped myself, remembering the power of names. Speak of the devil, and the devil _will _arrive. "I mean, your math teacher," I corrected myself. "That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."

Percy's frown deepened. "How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"

I shrugged. "You talk in your sleep," I answered.

"You almost called her something…a Fury?" Percy asked.

I pursed my lips. I'd hoped he hadn't noticed, or if he had noticed, he'd refrain from saying the name out loud.

"They're Hades's torturers, right?" he continued.

_Call the whole Underworld out here, why don't you?_ I thought. I looked at the ground, positive that the Furies would show up and attack us. It made me shudder to even think of them, and what they did to Thalia. "You shouldn't call them by name, even here," I told him. "We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all." And what an ironic name for them. The Kindly Ones? They were anything _but_ kind.

Percy rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly. "Look, is there anything we _can_ say without it thundering?" he complained. For a moment he seemed like a younger kid, and I could sense the frustration in his voice. Most new kids were like that—thrown into a scary and dangerous situation, trying to get their bearings, but having more information thrown at them. And I don't think I've seen a kid with more information thrown at him on the first day than Percy. "Why do I have to stay in Cabin Eleven, anyway?" he asked. "Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty cabins right over there." He gestured towards Cabins One, Two, and Three.

My eyes widened. Didn't anyone explain to him yet that the cabins were reserved especially and only for that god's children? "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy," I explained to him. "It depends on who your parents are. Or…_parent_," I self-corrected. Just one was all that determined your cabin. I waited for that to sink in, for him to say something that told me he was starting to understand. Surely he'd noticed that each cabin represented a different Olympian.

Percy looked at me uneasily. "My mom is Sally Jackson," he offered. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to…" He looked down at the ground, blinking.

My heart ached a little for him. I remembered the mortal woman, and how the Minotaur had squeezed her into a shower of golden sparks. I remembered how her son was sobbing for his mother a few nights ago, tears streaming down his face as he stared blankly at the ceiling of the porch. "I'm sorry about your mom, Percy," I told him sincerely. "But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."

Percy shook his head. "He's dead; I never knew him," he said dismissively.

That's how it was with all of the new kids—they all thought their Olympian parent was dead and gone. Quite the contrary. Although…I thought by now Percy would've realized this. "You're father's not dead, Percy," I sighed. _In fact, he's immortal. He _can't _die._

"How can you say that?" he asked. "You know him?"

"No, of course not." I barely knew my _own_ mother.

"Then how can you say—"

"Because I know _you_," I told him. I'd been in his place before. "You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."

Percy scowled, his green eyes looking stormy. "You don't know anything about me."

_Oh, don't I? Is that a challenge, Mr. Jackson?_ I thought. "No?" I raised an eyebrow. I was about to show him how similar we really were. "I bet you've moved around from school to school. Bet you were kicked out of a lot of them." Before I came to camp, I'd already been expelled from two schools, one for fighting and the other for accidentally destroying it in a monster attack. A lot of the kids I'd talked to at camp had gone through the same thing.

Percy's eyes widened. "How—"

I was on a roll; I wasn't about to let him stop me just yet. "Diagnosed with dyslexia, probably ADHD, too," I added. Personally, I'd been diagnosed with both when I was six years old. Most, even though not all, demigods had one or the other, and the most powerful had both.

Percy's face turned bright pink. I took that as a sign meaning I won this challenge. "What does that have to do with anything?" he asked, clearly embarrassed.

"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign," I said. I could totally relate to him. "The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for Ancient Greek. And the ADHD—you're impulsive, you can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive." Immediately I pictured Percy fighting the monster in the rain. Being the daughter of Athena, I'd learned to channel my ADHD into my battle skill, since my mother was the goddess of battle strategy. I continued, "As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they really are."

Offhand, I noticed how much I sounded like Chiron on my first day of camp.

Percy's expression melted into something like empathy. "You sound like…you went through the same thing?"

"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."

"Ambrosia and nectar," he repeated, like he was in a sad, skeptical trance.

"The food and drink we were giving you to make you feel better," I explained, trying to fight off images of sitting in the Big House, wiping the food of the gods off of his chin. "That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it," I told him, getting a little frustrated at his skepticism. "You're a half-blood."

His green eyes were hard to read, mixed with too many different emotions. He opened his mouth slightly, as if to say something in response. But he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Well! A newbie!"

I was hoping that she'd mind her own business. But if she had, she wouldn't have been Clarisse.

* * *

**Okay…so for those of you expecting the "Supreme Lord of the Bathroom" like The-Avian-Olympian …that was kind of troll-ish of me. I'm sorry! But hey, the good thing is it's coming up next. Sorry, I just don't want to end chapters in the same place that Riordan ends them. I want to make it sound different, you know? I hope you all forgive me!**

**Oh yeah, by the way, just a random question...do you guys like the cover? It's kind of cheesy, I know, but I drew the picture of Annabeth :) What do you think?**

**Leave a review, please! They're awesome!**

**Thanks,**

**~Mandi2341**


	5. Exploding Toilets and More Explanations

**Author's Note: Long chapter. But a fun chapter. I loved writing this chapter. I miss this Annabeth. Something happened to her between The Lightning Thief and The Last Olympian, and I'm trying to figure out what. I liked her a lot better in the Lightning Thief…oh well.**

**Whoooooo I got The Demigod Diaries! More about that at the bottom. First, read!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.**

**Enjoy!**

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Chapter 5: Exploding Toilets and More Explanations

Clarisse strolled over toward Percy and me, three of her sisters right behind her.

I sighed. "Clarisse, why don't you go polish your spear or something?" Seriously, the girl treated that weapon like it was worth ten million golden drachmas. Then again, it was a priceless gift from her father, Ares. I could relate. I'd received a magic Yankees cap from my mother Athena for my twelfth birthday. If anyone even tried to touch it…well, let's just say people knew better than to try and touch it. I couldn't imagine how Clarisse guarded that electric spear of hers.

Clarisse sneered at me. "Sure, Miss Princess," she responded, further infuriating me. Another allusion to my hair, and my princess curls. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

"_Erre es korakas_!" I shouted at her. It translated _Go to the crows!_ I promise, the curse is much worse than it might sound. The Ancient Greek always slipped out when I was angry or frustrated. "You don't stand a chance."

"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse sneered at me. But that twitch in her eye told me she was bluffing. That was the annoying thing with Ares kids, and what made Athena a better warrior. Athena could actually _carry out_ her threats, and made a sure point of doing so. Ares just liked to throw his weight around, and the trait carried over to his children.

Clarisse looked at Percy, who'd been standing quietly, watching us argue back and forth. "Who's this little runt?" she asked.

"Percy Jackson," I said, "meet Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

For a moment, Percy looked a little apprehensive. "Like…the war god?" he asked.

Clarisse narrowed her eyes. "You got a problem with that?" she snarled.

Percy blinked, then shrugged. "No," he said indifferently. "It explains the bad smell."

My eyes widened. No one talked to Clarisse that way. Then again, he was from Manhattan. I remembered how he'd taunted the Minotaur on Half-Blood Hill. I was actually kind of starting to like this kid, even if he was clueless.

Clarisse, on the other hand, didn't take the insult very likely. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy," she growled.

_Oh, no. Not the toilets,_ I thought.

"Percy," Percy corrected.

"Whatever. Come on. I'll show you."

I couldn't let another newbie get his head stuck in the toilet. It was awful. Luckily I'd arrived _before_ Clarisse, so I was fortunate enough to miss that tradition. I felt bad for all of the new kids who had to deal with it. "Clarisse—" I tried to cut in, but Clarisse wouldn't let me.

"Stay out of it, wise girl," she barked at me.

_Wise girl? Jeez, people need to come up with better insults for me,_ I thought to myself in the back of my mind. As for the matter at hand, I knew this wasn't going to be pretty. I wanted to do something, but I couldn't fight for him. If he could beat the Minotaur, he could beat an idiotic child of Ares.

Percy gave me his Minotaur horn to hold for him, and he balled his fists, ready to fight, but Clarisse took hold of his shaggy hair and dragged him toward the restrooms. Percy struggled in vain to free himself. I followed them into the girls' restroom and stood in the corner. The other Ares girls stood over Clarisse's shoulder to watch.

This was _not_ going to be pretty. Those toilets were disgusting. I couldn't watch. I covered my face, but peeked through my middle and ring fingers.

Clarisse was pushing Percy's head, but Percy was straining to keep his head up. Clarisse laughed. "Like he's Big Three material," she muttered. "Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid-looking."

The other girls laughed.

I thought, _Come on, Percy! Show them what you did back there!_

All of a sudden, there was this weird rumbling sound, like the pipes were about to break. I saw Percy wince a little. Even Clarisse looked stunned. I uncovered my face.

Bad idea. The next thing I knew, the toilets were gushing water everywhere. Streams flew over Percy's head and straight into Clarisse's face. The showers and sinks exploded. Unfortunately a stream of toilet water washed over me, too. I covered my face again, trying not to gag.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that the entire restroom was flooded. The Ares girls were gone. I was dripping wet, feeling completely disgusted. Somehow, Percy was sitting in a circle of dry floor.

How was he still dry? My mind started working fast. Water gods…

Percy stood up with shaky legs. His eyes were a much brighter green, for some reason. It was like they were glittering, like light on water.

All I could do was stare at him. "How did you…" I started.

"I don't know," he replied, the shock evident in his voice.

As we walked back outside, I saw that Clarisse and her sisters were also soaked, laying in the mud, Clarisse's stringy brown hair spread all over her face. "You are dead, new boy," she growled at Percy. "You are totally dead."

Percy sneered at her. His eyes were turning stormy again, but the glittery effect lingered for a few seconds before fading away. "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse?" he taunted. "Close your mouth."

My jaw dropped. He really _was_ dead. Like I said, _no one_ talked to Clarisse La Rue like that and gets away with it. I thought, _it's official. This kid really was born and raised in New York City._ Clarisse lunged at him, but her sisters held her back and dragged her to Cabin Five, kicking and screaming.

A thought struck me as I looked at him, those stormy green eyes. Clarisse would want revenge on this kid for embarrassing her like that. _If we were to station him up front at the creek, when she crossed the border and saw him…he'd be the perfect bait. And…I could use this as a great opportunity for experimentation. Obviously he has a talent for water…_

"What?" Percy demanded, snapping me out of my thoughts. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking…that I want you on my team for capture the flag," I told him.

* * *

I showed Percy a few more places around camp, like the metal shop, arts-and-crafts, and the climbing wall, before heading back to the canoe lake.

"I've got training to do," I lied. Honestly, I wanted to change out of my wet clothes and dry my hair before dinner, as well as discuss my new Capture the Flag plan with my siblings. Of course, I couldn't tell Percy that last part. He was my secret weapon. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

He nodded. "Annabeth," he said, "I'm sorry about the toilets."

"Whatever," I said dismissively. It wasn't that big of a deal…even though it had been pretty gross…

"It wasn't my fault," he added.

_Then who's was it?_ I was pretty sure that Clarisse hadn't made those toilets explode. But again that got me to thinking about who this kid's parent was. "You need to talk to the Oracle," I decided. Maybe she (or rather, _it_) could help Percy determine what was happening. Maybe the Oracle could even help with the whole solstice issue. Don't get me wrong; the old mummy in the attic was super freaky, and ever since I'd read the Great Prophecy…let's just say I stayed out of the attic.

"Who?" Percy asked.

"Not who," I corrected. "What. The Oracle," I said to answer his question. "I'll ask Chiron."

I looked him over again. Those green eyes…how they'd seemed to light up when those toilets went off. Now that I thought about it more…those eyes reminded me of Poseidon's. I'd only seen the sea god once, last winter at the field trip. But…_no, he couldn't be Poseidon's son_, I thought. _That would mean the oath was broken twice. That's impossible._

Percy was staring sadly into the lake. Two naiads waved enthusiastically at him, like they'd been waiting for him to arrive. Percy hesitantly waved back.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't encourage them," I said. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

Percy kept his eyes on the lake. "Naiads," he repeated emptily. He frowned. "That's it. I want to go home now." He still wouldn't look at me.

_Home where? Back in New York, with all the monsters and gods roaming the streets? _Once you find your way here, you don't leave, unless you want to become dinner for a monster. "Don't you get it, Percy? You _are_ home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."

He glared at me. "You mean mentally disturbed kids?"

I narrowed my eyes. He just suggested that I was crazy, and that frustrated me. Why was everything so difficult for him to believe? It was all right there, before his very eyes, and he still refused to believe any of it. "I mean _not human_," I told him. "Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."

"Half-human and half-what?" he asked, still glaring at me.

I returned it. _Stop trying to deny it, kid._ "I think you know," I said quietly.

He didn't answer right away, but I knew the answer was clear in his mind. He could only be skeptical for so long before he had to accept the truth. He didn't want to admit it, but after a few seconds he said, "God. Half-god."

I nodded, satisfied. "Your father isn't dead, Percy," I told him. "He's one of the Olympians."

"That's…crazy," he said incredulously.

"Is it?" I asked him. "What's the most common thing the gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with mortals and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"

"But those are just—" Percy stopped himself. I guess even _he_ knew there was no point in denying it any longer. He started a new thought. "But if all the kids here are half-gods—"

"Demigods," I corrected him again. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."

"Then who's your dad?" he asked.

A wave of anger washed over me. I gripped the railing tighter. _You want to know who my dad is? He's a jerk who wanted nothing to do with a freak of a daughter like me, since the day I appeared at his doorstep in that golden cradle._ It took me a few seconds to control myself, so that my voice didn't tremble when I answered. "My dad is a professor at West Point. I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American History."

"He's human," Percy noticed. There was a slight look of surprise on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "What, you assume it has to be the male god that finds the human female attractive?" I asked him. "How sexist is that?" There were goddesses on Olympus that flirted just as much as the gods. Perfect example: Aphrodite. She probably had the most children at camp.

Percy rolled his eyes a little. "Who's your _mom_, then?" he asked.

"Cabin Six," I answered, remembering the gray building and the owl.

"Meaning?" he said, a little more annoyed with my lack of straight answers.

Of course he wouldn't know the cabins by numbers yet. So I straightened up, feeling the same pride I'd always felt being who I was. I'd felt that pride since I was seven, the day the silver owl appeared over my head. "Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle."

"And my dad?" he asked.

"Undetermined," I answered. "Like I said before, nobody knows." Although…I was getting an idea…

Percy looked at me with those green eyes. They were hard to read. "Except my mom," he murmured. "She knew."

I pursed my lips. Touchy subject. "Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."

"My dad would have. He loved her."

He said it with such confidence and certainty…I didn't want to hurt his feelings. "Maybe you're right," I said. "Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure. Your father has to send a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens." I'd witnessed a lot of claims: Connor and Travis Stoll, with the green caduceus twirling over their heads; Silena Beauregard glowing pink and transforming into a girl more beautiful than a Greek princess; Lee Fletcher and his golden lyre.

Percy's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "You mean, sometimes it doesn't?" he asked warily.

_Oh…right. Most of the time, actually._ I unconsciously ran my hand over the railing. I hoped that it wouldn't be the case with Percy, as confident as he seemed to be in his father's love for his mom, but the truth is…most of the kids here waited years to be claimed, _if _they were _ever_ claimed. "The gods are busy, Percy," I said softly. "They have a lot of kids, and they don't always…" I trailed off, not wanting to admit the horrible truth, but it _was_ the truth, and he needed to know. "Well, sometimes, they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."

He looked down. I could tell he was upset by what I'd told him. I imagine Thalia's face whenever her father Zeus was brought up in conversation. She refused to talk about him. She was sure that he'd abandoned her, and she hated him for it. Right then, with his brooding expression, he really reminded me of her. "So I'm stuck here," he grumbled. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"

_Trust me, I feel your pain,_ I thought. "It depends," I told him. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force." Even though he couldn't be a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, since his father was the Olympian, I went on to explain to him how monsters would ignore him and he could probably live a normal life. "But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble—about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off." _Like Thalia,_ I thought bitterly. "A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them." George Washington, son of Athena. Amelia Earhart, daughter of Zeus. "Some don't even realize they're demigods," I continued. "But very, very few are like that."

Percy nodded. "So monsters can't get in here?"

I shook my head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

"Why would anyone intentionally summon a monster?" Percy asked skeptically.

I shrugged. "Practice fights. Practical jokes." There was one time when the Hermes cabin had summoned an army of monsters to scare the whole camp on April Fools' Day.

Percy's eyes went wide. "Practical jokes?"

"The point is," I said quickly before he freaked out too much, "the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm." In fact, strawberries were our main export, and helped us raise money. Mr. D, his sons, and the satyrs were great at making them grow to their potential.

"So…" Percy started, "you're a year-rounder?"

I nodded slowly. I took out my camp necklace, with five beads for each year I'd been to camp. I held it out so Percy could see it. "I've been here since I was seven," I explained. "Every August, on the last day of the summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college." Only Luke could match me…for obvious reasons.

Percy frowned. "Why did you come so young?" he asked.

Bad memories flashed through my mind: my father yelling at me after a monster attack in the first grade, the resentful look he'd give me every time I'd pass him in the house, the way my stepmom snatched her kids away from me when I tried to play peek-a-boo with them…all of the arguments, and yelling, and fighting…the stupid ring Dad had given me in "reconciliation"…I found myself twisting it in my fingers as Percy stared at me, waiting for an answer. "None of your business," I said, scowling. I wasn't going to open up that box of hurt. Not again. Not to a stranger.

"Oh." Percy was silent for a while. In the back of my mind I was grateful that he didn't try to pry. After a few minutes he went back to the previous topic of conversation. "So…I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

I sighed. A demigod as powerful as he was? Good luck with that. "It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of summer, unless…" I stopped. Every time I brought up quests, I just made myself look more and more desperate. Everyone teased me about it. And besides, at this point there was no way Chiron would grant me a quest. My siblings were right. Not after what happened to Luke. I needed to let that go.

Percy looked at me with those bright green eyes. "Unless?" he prompted.

I looked at him. He was going to think I was crazy. "…you were granted a quest," I finished. "But that hardly ever happens. The last time…" My mind flashed back to Luke's determined expression the day he'd received a quest from his father. His mission—to retrieve a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides. When he returned, he had a deep gash running from his eye to his jaw, a claw slash from a poisonous dragon. The mark had never completely faded, and it was a constant reminder of his failure. Ever since then…no camper had been allowed to leave until the summer was over. So I was stuck here, wondering what it was like in the real world.

I'd begged Chiron for a quest, but he received a prophecy from the Oracle, stating that I would have to wait for The One. I'd hoped that Percy would've been the special person, but he was so clueless, he'd never get me a quest.

"Back in the sickroom," Percy said, "when you were feeding me that stuff—"

"Ambrosia," I supplied.

"Yeah," he said. "You asked me something about the summer solstice."

Whoa…that's right. I'd almost forgotten about that. I started to get excited. Maybe he _did_ know something! Maybe he couldn't answer because of his injuries and weakness. But he was well now. "So you _do_ know something?" I asked him hopefully.

"Well…no," he answered honestly.

_Quit trolling me, Jackson,_ I thought.

"Back at my old school," he continued, "I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it."

_That's what Grover had said,_ I remembered.

"Grover mentioned the summer solstice," Percy went on. "He said something like, we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"

I balled my fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know but they won't tell me. Something's wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so _normal_." I remembered winter solstice meeting, the golden braziers, the Muses giving a concert, nymphs and minor gods chasing each other, and the Olympians fighting with each other over silly matters. As soon as we got back to camp, though, the weather got weird, like the gods were seriously angry.

"You've been to Olympus?" Percy asked incredulously, eyes wide again.

I nodded. "Some of us year-rounders—Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others—we took a field trip during the winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual meeting."

Percy frowned, as if he were confused. "But…how did you get there?"

Empire State Building? "The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the 600th floor." For someone who lived in Manhattan, he was _really_ clueless. "You _are_ a New Yorker, right?" I asked.

"Oh, sure," he answered nonchalantly. But he wasn't fooling anybody. He didn't know that the Empire State Building was the new Mount Olympus.

"Right after we visited, the weather started getting weird, as if the gods had started fighting," I told him. "A couple of times since, I'd overheard the satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble." I looked him in the eyes. "When you came, I was hoping…" My words were tumbling out of my mouth now. "I mean—Athena can get along with just about anybody, except Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."

I gave him another hopeful glance, but he shook his head apologetically.

Too many things to think about. I had to know if he really was the one I was waiting for. Who was his godly parent? How would he get me a quest? I was sure that the two of us could solve the problem. I prided myself in being intelligent. Just because I was twelve didn't mean I couldn't handle it. "I've got to get a quest," I muttered out loud. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem…" I stopped rambling when I realized that I _had _been rambling. I stared at the horizon. The sun was setting. I needed to talk to my siblings. "You go on ahead, Percy," I murmured. "I'll catch you later."

He hesitated, like he wanted to say something more to me, but I guess he realized that right then, I need to be left to my thoughts. So he walked away. I stood at the pier, trying to draw a picture of my capture the flag battle plans in my head, absently tracing my finger along the railing while I did so.

* * *

**SPOILER ALERT. Okay…so The Demigod Diaries. It's sooo awesome! But I didn't finish the Haley story yet, so please no spoilers! But I _did _read the others. First…I think Luke's Diary made me fall in love with him a little bit. Second, Percy Jackson and the Staff of Hermes was soooooo refreshing! Good old Percy's 1st person! That story was so…sarcastic! I couldn't stop laughing. Seriously, I was at the point where it was hurting. **

**And is Percy not the sweetest boyfriend in the world? My favorite part: "She was beautiful in combat. I know that's a crazy thing to say…but her gray eyes sparkled when she was fighting for her life. Her face shone like a goddess's, and believe me, I'd seen goddesses. The way her Camp Half-Blood beads rested against her throat—Okay, sorry. Got a little distracted." **

**Gah, he's so cute! I wish I was Annabeth. That story just made me jealous of her. Oh, well. PERCABETH FTW!**

**And the Leo story was so Leo that I couldn't stop laughing. Ah, Leo…**

**Don't spoil the Haley story for me! But from what I've read so far…I love his style of writing. If it's possible to mini-crush on someone through their writing…I just did. :P**

**Sorry for the rant, but I had to get it out. PM me if you wanna rant with me. What did you guys think about it? Oh yeah…and this chapter. Tell me what you thought of this chapter, too. Teeheehee.**

**Please review!**

**Thanks, **

**~Mandi2341**


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